KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Bus drivers with the School District of Osceola County will be participating in a national survey to see how many people are committing stop arm violations.

Transportation Services is directing its bus drivers to take part in the National School Bus Illegal Passing Survey on May 10, 2023. Drivers will be reporting when drivers commit stop arm violations, which is a car passing a school bus while it is loading or unloading students.

“Last year, Osceola school bus drivers reported 439 incidents in a single day of the surveying period,” said Transportation Services Director Arby Creach.

In the state of Florida, the penalty for illegally passing a school bus is a fine with a minimum of $100 on the first offense. On the second offense, within five years after the first, the driver could have their license suspended up to one year.

“Students are the most at risk when they are outside the bus in the ‘danger zone,’ where, as pedestrians, they are vulnerable to illegal passing of school buses by other motorists,” Creach said. “Our own participation and results identify that this significant problem is growing rapidly and supports a continuing need for greater safety countermeasures at the state and national level.”

In 2022, the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services said more than 79,000 bus drivers reported 51,593 stop arm violations. The survey was not conducted in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Joanna Goodhue